Most importantly, though, Rainbow points at the new sonic possibilities lying inside of Boris’ already intensely explored aesthetic. While his guitar heroics can become grating, (as on the overly long circle-jerking solo of the title track) cuts like “Shine” show that he can lean back and become part of the atmosphere rather than constantly tearing it up. Elsewhere, his frenetic, explosive playing livens up Boris’ already incendiary rumble. His looser, jammier leads (excuse the pun) lead to some of the more interesting moments on the album, such as the title track and “You Laughed Like a Water Mark,” which sounds like something off of Mabuta no Ura, but with more polish and cohesion. Unlike Merzbow on Sun Baked Snow Cave, Kurihara manages to contribute to and reshape the sound of Rainbow without completely destroying it. Much of this feel can be attributed to Michio Kurihara’s fantastic efforts. To put it metaphorically: If Heavy Rocks was the sound of tearing through Death Valley on the back of a Kawasaki Ninja, Rainbow is parking your EuroVan in that same desert, laying out your hand-me-down Sioux blanket, and staring at the stars. In essence, this is an album defined by Boris’ attempt to re-imagine traditional psychedelic music as something a bit more, well, Boris. Much of the album is infused with a melodic sense borrowed from sixties-era garage and psychedelic rock. Now that I think about it, “Vintage” is a very important concept in the sonic world of Rainbow. 1” follows a similar path, marrying blues-metal bluster to a funky, vintage strut courtesy of Kurihara’s remarkable lead work. The straight forward rock songs are also charmingly off-kilter: “Starship Narrator” is energetic enough to be a BORIS cut but is too poppy by a third, its sixties-style vocals throwing confetti on the fire. The grey-skied dirge of “Shine” constantly threatens to explode into a “Feedbacker” style noise orgy, yet nary a solo is to be found in this landscape of ghostly wails and atmospheric guitar work. Yes, Rainbow is a triumph of engineering because it manages to mix the softer, experimental side of “boris” with the fist-pumping metal behemoth that is “BORIS.” In fact, even the more familiar styles showcased on this album appear in drastically different new forms. From the rambling lounge-jam of “Rainbow” (yes, you read that right, and it has vocals by Wata!) to the reversed percussion and gorgeous guitar twiddling of “My Rain,” the band continually throws the listener for a curve with new tonal and melodic possibilities heretofore seen as impossible in the cred-baiting world of Indie-Metal. Rainbow, Boris’ collaboration with legendary guitarist Michio Kurihara, is fascinating simply because every track just happens to be one of those things. Put simply, there are certain things that you just don’t expect to hear on a BORIS record. As a result, Boris’ catalog has become sharply divided between guitar-worshipping metal and experimental behemoths. If the name is all lowercase, on the other hand, (boris) you’re in for something more experimental, melodic, and maybe even (perish to think) folksy. Here’s one about Japanese psych-metal legends Boris (for use at next chai-sipping hipster-fuck get together): they have a name-based coding system! See, if the name on the sleeve is written in all caps, (BORIS) then the album is 100% noise-metal destruction ala Pink or Heavy Rocks. Every band has a stable of fun facts that fans like to throw around to prove that they really know their stuff.